WELCOME TO THE OFFICIAL RICHARD E GERSTEIN JUSTICE BUILDING BLOG. THIS BLOG IS DEDICATED TO JUSTICE BUILDING RUMOR, HUMOR, AND A DISCUSSION ABOUT AND BETWEEN THE JUDGES, LAWYERS AND THE DEDICATED SUPPORT STAFF, CLERKS, COURT REPORTERS, AND CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS WHO LABOR IN THE WORLD OF MIAMI'S CRIMINAL JUSTICE. POST YOUR COMMENTS, OR SEND RUMPOLE A PRIVATE EMAIL AT HOWARDROARK21@GMAIL.COM

Friday, June 28, 2013

ROBERT LUCK APPOINTED TO CIRCUIT COURT

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

AND YOUR NEW CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE IS .....

ROBERT LUCK

He did not choose Assistant County Attorney Jason Bloch or Judge DJ Cannava or Judge Wendell Graham or Assistant Federal PD Ayana Harris.

He chose a 33 year old AUSA who has been practicing law for eight years. Luck clerked for Federal Judge Ed Carnes of the Eleventh US Court of Appeals. He then worked for Greenberg Traurig for a year before moving to the US Attorneys Office. He has been there since 2006.

Luck is a Gator having attended UF for both Undergrad and Law School.

Captain Out .....Rumpole says:And a source none other than everyone's favourite federal blogger, DOM, says Mr. Luck is a good guy and will make a good judge. Welcome to the party Judge Luck. See You In Court.

30 comments:

Anonymous
said...

I had a trial against Robert Luck & Daniel Bernstein in federal court last summer. Robert was courteous, ethical, and intelligent (and he won the trial, which almost goes without saying for the government in federal court). Even though he is young, I don't see him as being any less qualified than the present members of our circuit court bench.

Is anybody watching the blood bath the State is taking in the Zimmerman trial? This is absolutely amazing.

And O'Mara is simply knocking it out of the park. This guy is part of the "A" team. Excellent trial attorney.

He has had a PA on the stand, in cross, for hours, going over the injuries that his client, Zimmerman, suffered.

The State was in a lose, lose situation here, as they have been all day with several of these witnesses. They really needed to consider not calling some of them. But, as we all know, from previous experience, they always seem to over-try their cases, usually to their detriment.

The State's last witness today is the physician's assistant at the Urgent Care Center that saw Zimmerman within 16 hours of the shooting. He went there for the nose injuries and the skull injuries. The State's Direct lasted only a few minutes.

The defense has made sure that the jury knows about each and every capillary that broke in Zimmerman's skull when his head was slammed into the sidewalk by Trayvon Martin.

Zimmerman will be convicted of Manslaughter. You don't go to a fistfight with a gun. He was told to stay away and wouldn't. There are six women on the jury who know what you do when the cops tell you to do something and have told their kids lots of times that if you get hurt doing what you weren’t supposed to be doing, you get what you deserve. For Zimmerman, a conviction. No question he is a big enough nerd to be a cop, but at least that will never happen.

Eight years is not enough. We have older judges who are not very bright but have a lot of wisdom and years of developing it. . There are some very bright 33 year olds, but there is no way a 33 year old has the wisdom to make life and death decisions or even five or 10 year decisions. If you have any question, take a look at Monica Gordo (not to suggest that she is bright).

Rumpole, usually your blog attracts the weirdos of South Florida (Former Judge, Fake Risivy, RFB, Word of the Day Guys, etc), but have you checked out the South Florida Lawyers comments? There is a guy who is writing in a very realistic manner that he has discovered a worm hole that allows him to travel back- to of all places- Hialeah Florida on one particular day in December of 1978, You should check it out.

This just reflects how bad the bench is presently. 8 years of government employment should not qualify anyone to take the bench. Then again we have some who never tried a case or even was in court and sold Amway products sitting. And there are alot of others unquailifed but thats the way it is. Most of the current judges are on the bench because they could make a nickle in private practice.

I wish Mr. Luck well. While he may be a good person and a very good lawyer, it is virtually inconceivable to me that he has the life experience necessary to be a circuit court judge. I have long believed that the minimum qualifications to be a judge (county or circuit) should be Bar membership for 10 years and 40 years of age.

Why are all judges ex-prosecutors? It can't always be because they want to "serve the public and ensure justice is done". Is it the government retirement? By appointing only ex-prosecutors justice gets a one-sided view of things and the scales are tipped in favor of the prosecution. Why not appoint some defense attorneys sometime? I know the money is better in the private sector but something needs to be done to balance the scales of justice.

As a defense attorney, I think prosecutors make better judges. Prosecutors look at thousands of cases to our hundreds. They are more detached. In my circuit, the hammering judges are all former defense attorneys. Ex prosecutors are far more likely to cut your guy a break.

I have had some really scummy clients over the decades, I would be far too emotional to be a fair judge.

Not all judges are ex-prosecutors. Sure, there are too many ex-prosecutors as judges, and sure most of the lousy felony judges are ex-prosecutors, but not all judges are ex-prosecutors. Here's a list of new judges who were not ex-prosecutors:

Judge Robert Deehl died on Friday, two days short of his 88th birthday. Judge Deehl was part of our Greatest Generation.

Deehl graduated from Miami High School in 1942 and immediately joined the Marine Corp and fought in WWII. He returned to get his education on the GI bill and went to law school at UF.

His began practicing law in South Florida in 1949. In 1964 Deehl got appointed to the then Metropolitan Court bench. It later became known as County Court. Deehl would go on to serve 49 years on the bench, (full-time and senior status) finally retiring this past March after he was diagnosed with cancer.

Deehl was perfect for the County Court bench. He never once put in for Circuit Court; he liked what he did on the "people's court" bench. He retired from active service on the bench in 1992 but served as a senior judge for the next 21 years.

Deehl was recently interviewed by the DBR and had some things to say about being a judge. He did not like the fact that there are many judges now with no previous trial experience. "You need more trial lawyers, ...., to sit as judges, because they know what's going on".

He also warned judges against taking themselves too seriously. "Everyone tells you how wonderful you are when you're a judge. Some of them believe it. They think they can walk on water".

God's speed Robert Deehl. Thank you for your 49 years of service on the bench and to your dedication to the residents of our community.

Everyone was so quick to comment; some with knowledge, some just spouting off in order to be heard.

I have observed a decent-enough amount at this point to comment on Robert Luck:

He is patient with attorneys; he is not perfect, he is not imperfect--he is somewhere in between like most.

Nonetheless, he is patient. He actually listens to an attorney's arguments. And he comes prepared. Enjoy it for as long as it lasts. He may not get elected again--although he should--or he may change his demeanor--which he shouldn't.

If you want to argue in front of a judge who listens, argue in front of Robert Luck.

Milton is still the best, FYI. (had to provide a benchmark for my opinion).